Over 22 tons of litter collected in KZN cleanup
Our beaches, reefs, estuaries, rivers and catchments are cleaner by having 22 871kg of litter collected and removed.
Plastics SA has released the results of the 2015 International Coastal Clean-Up (ICC) that took place on Saturday, 19 September, as one of the highlights of the annual Clean-Up and Recycle Week SA.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife set itself the goal of covering as much of its 620km of coastline as possible.
Cleaning the province’s Marine Protected Areas, estuaries and rivers was an important objective, along with encouraging cleanups inland too.
Staff and honorary officers were mobilised to cover a specific stretch of coast and district and to coordinate the volunteers from local schools, individual citizens, religious groups and businesses.
Despite the poor weather conditions experienced on the day, 5,200 enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers cleaned the marine environment from Port Edward to Kosi Bay. Each volunteer collected 4.4kg of litter, which equates to 2.23 bags per person, each bag weighing approximately 2kg.
“The enthusiasm and support we received this year was fantastic. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of volunteers and the efficient organisation and administration of the Ocean Conservancy in the USA, the International Coastal Cleanup has become one of the largest cleanup programmes on behalf of the marine environment within KZN.
Our beaches, reefs, estuaries, rivers and catchments are cleaner by having 22 871kg of litter collected and removed,” said Wayne Munger of KZN Wildlife.
History of International Coastal Clean-Up
The International Coastal Clean-Up was started by the single effort of one woman walking along the beach in Texas who was appalled at the amount of litter she saw. In a mere two hours she organised 2,800 Texans, who collected 124 tons of litter.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife joined the global cleanup campaign for the first time in 1996 as a pilot project. During the first year, 460 people removed 9 tonnes of litter from 33km of beach, which included five divers, who collected 7kg of litter from our reefs. Soon, the other three coastal provinces followed suit.
